Display



Nov. 19, 1968 J. w. LACEY 3, 1

DISPLAY Filed Dec. 18, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvsmon. JOHN w. LA CEY BYJul M6 ATTY'S.

Nov. 19, 1968 .1. w. LACEY 3,411,228

DISPLAY Filed Dec. 18, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOHN W. LACE YATTY'S United States Patent 0 3,411,228 DISPLAY John W. Lacey, Winnetka,111., assignor to Pre-Vue Display Services Inc, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 18, 1967, Ser. No. 691,539 10 Claims.(Cl. 40-1241) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An article of manufacture whichis cut from a blank of suitable flat sheet material such as, forexample, paperboard or plastic, in the form of a number of sectionshaving shapes such as rings, ellipses, ovals, squares, rectangles orother regular or irregular shapes, which allow for hinge pivot points atright angles. These sections are internally affixed together by means ofthe hinge pivot points, so as to be concentrically arranged with respectto one another, and foldable to lie in planes perpendicularly disposedwith respect to one another. The articles are precut, pre-folded, andcan have a string affixed to them so that they can be shipped and/ orstored flat, and thereafter easily and quickly erected simply bygrasping the string between two fingers and permitting the article tofree-fall. The articles can be of a relatively large size, and can beattractively colored for use as a decorative ornament, or as adecorative, eye-catching display, with advertising material printed orotherwise provided on them. The articles also can be smaller in size,for use as novel advertising mailing pieces, or as greeting cards.

This invention relates to an article of manufacture having a unique,eye-catching construction which is of such a nature that the article canbe used as a novel greeting card, an advertising mailing piece, and as adecorative ornament or an attractive, decorative, eye-catchingadvertising display which can be supported suspended, like a mobile.

Numerous advertising displays are available, however, those which areattractive, decorative and eye-catching so as to attract considerableattention usually are relatively complex and, accordingly expensive.Also, these displays generally require considerable time to assemblethem and, furthermore, are designed for a particular application and arenot easily or readily adaptable to other applications. Accordingly, acontinuing effort constantly is being made to develop new displays whichare simple in design, inexpensive, easily and readily adaptable tonumerous applications, and easily and quickly assembled. A similareffort is being made to develop new types of advertising mailing piecesand/or greeting cards which can be fabricated relatively inexpensively,and which are unusual so that they attract considerable attention.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an article ofmanufacture having a unique, eye-catching construction which is of sucha nature that the article can be used as a novel greeting card, anadvertising mailing piece, and as a decorative ornament or advertisingdisplay which can be supported suspended like a mobile.

Another object is to provide an article of manufacture of the above typewhich can be easily fabricated, inexpensively.

Still another object is to provide an article of manufacture of theabove type which is easily shipped and/or stored.

Still another object is to provide articles of the above type which areeasily and quickly erected simply by, for example, pulling a string.

A still further object is to provide improved articles of the above typewhich are easily adapted to numerous different applications.

3,411,228 Patented Nov. 19, 1968 Other objects of the invention will inpart be obvious and will in part appear Lhereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture which iscut from a blank of suitable flat sheet material such as, for example,paperboard or plastic, in the form of a number of sections having shapessuch as rings, ellipses, ovals, squares, rectangles or other regular orirregular shapes, which allow for hinge pivot points at right angles.These sections are integrally afiixed together by means of the hingepivot points, so as to be concentrically arranged With respect to oneanother, and foldable to lie in planes perpendicularly disposed withrespect to one another. The articles are pre-c-ut, pre-folded, and canhave a string afiixed to them so that they can be shipped and/or storedfiat, and thereafter easily and quickly erected simply by grasping thestring between two fingers and permitting the article to free-fall. Thearticles can be of a relatively large size, and can be attractivelycolored for use as a decorative ornament, or as a decorative,eye-catching display, with advertising material printed or otherwiseprovide-d on them. The articles also can be smaller in size, for use asnovel advertising mailing pieces, or as greeting cards.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessingthe features, properties, and the relation of elements which will beexemplified in the article hereinafter described, and the scope of theinvention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the single blank of sheet material, fromwhich the article of manufacture is erected;

FIG. 2 is a view of the string afiixed to the article;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the article, illustrating the manner inwhich it is pre-folded and has the string affixed to it, prior toshipping and/ or storing it;

FIG. 4 is a practial top plan view illustrating the manner in which thearticle is cut to provide interlocking tabs thereon for integrallyaffixing the rings and the disc thereof together;

FIG. 5 is a partial top plan view like FIG. 4, illustrating the mannerin which the disc and one ring is folded with respect to the other oneof the rings;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the article when erected;

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view illustrating the manner in whichthe rings or disc can be supported to relieve the strain on one or theother of them;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a blank which is cut and scored so as toform another article exemplary of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an article, illustrating the manner inwhich the center portion thereof can be cut in the shape of a product,such as a bottle, as shown;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an article, illustrating the manner inwhich it can be formed so as to hang tilted from horizontal; and

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating the manner in which the article can beformed and mailed, as a greeting card, or advertising mailing piece.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing, in FIG. 1 there is shown a circular-shapedblank 11 of sheet material, preferably heavy paperboard, which is cutand scored so as to form a disc 12 having two annular rings 14 and 16concentrically disposed with respect to it, about its periphery. Thedisc 12 and the rings 14 and 16 are integrally affixed together in afashion such that they can be folded perpendicular to one another, toform the three dimensional article 10, illustrated in FIG. 6. A string18 is threaded through ape:tures 20 and 22 formed in the ring 16 and thedisc 12, respectively, for hangingly supporting the article 10, like amobile.

The blank 11 preferably is pre-folded in a substantially fiatconfiguration and the string 18 is afiixed to it, prior to shipping and/or storing it, in a fashion such that the blank ll is erected to formthe article 10, simply by grasping the string 18 and permitting theblank to free-fall.

The article 10, as can be seen in FIG. 6, has a unique, eyecatchingconstruction. Each of the rings 14 and 16 and the disc 12 can be coloreddifferently, on one or both sides, to provide an attractive, decorativeornament which can be suspended by the string 18, in the home or ofiice.Alterna ively, the rings 14 and 16 and the disc 12 can be appropriatelycolored and advertising matter provided on them, as generallyillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 by the reference numeral 24, to provide anattractive, decorative, eye-catching advertising display.

The article 10 also is easily adapted to advertise different products orthe like, simply by providing the appropriate advertising matter on it.This is easily accomplished since the rings 14 and 16 and the disc 12can be colored and the advertising matter printed or otherwise providedon them, while the article 10 is in the blank form illustrated inFIG. 1. The article 10 can be shipped and/or stored in the form of theblank 11, or as indicated above, it can be pre-folded in a substantiallyflat configuration, as illustrated in FIG. 3, prior to shipping and/orstoring it. Accordingly, it is easily and conveniently shipped and/ orscored in, for example, a large mailing envelope. Furthermore, byaffixing a string 18 to the pre-folded blank 11 in the manner describedabove, the article 10 can be easily and quickly automatically erected,by holding the end of the string 18 and letting the pre-folded blank 11drop or free-fall. It can be therefore seen that the article 10 has manyof the characteristics generally associated with the type of advertisingdisplay which the industry is seeking.

More specifically, the article 10 is formed from the singlecircular-shaped blank 11 of material, illustrated in FIG. 1. The blank11 has cut lines 26 and 28 in it, forming the disc 12 and the annularrings 14 and 16. The disc 12 is integrally affixed to the annular ring14, by means of a pair of tabs or hinges 38 and 40. These hinges 38 and40 are formed by cut lines 30 and 32 extending from the out line 26,which is discontinuous at these two positions, into the annular ring 14,and by the score lines 34 and 36 extending from the ends of the cutlines 30 and 32 to the cut line 26. It may be noted that the hinges 38and 40 are substantially diametrically opposed with respect to oneanother, however, the score lines 34 and 36 thereof are slightlyoff-center, on a line 27 which is parallel to a line 29 drawn togetherthe center axis of the disc 12, as illustrated.

The annular ring 14 likewise is integrally affixed to the annular ring16, by means of a pair of tabs or hinges 42 and 44 which are displacedapproximately 90 with respect to the hinges 38 and 40. These hinges 42and 44 are formed by cut lines 46 and 48 extending from the cut lines28, which is discontinuous at these two positions, into the annular ring16, and by the score lines 50 and 52 extending from the ends of the cutlines 46 and 48 to the cut line 28. It may be noted that the score lines50 and 52 also are slightly off-center, on a line 51 which is parallelto another line 53 drawn through the center axis of the disc 12,perpendicular to the line 29.

The hinge pairs 38 and 40, and 42 and 44, can be positioneddiametrically opposed to one another, that is the score lines thereofcan be formed along the lines 29 and .4 53 drawn through the center axisof the disc 12, if desired. However, they are preferably providedslightly olfcenter, as described above, since this feature permits thearticles 10 to be prefolded and thereafter easily and automaticallyerected to form the three dimensional configuration illustrated in FIG.6, as fully described below.

The cut lines 30, 32, 46 and 48 preferably are arcuateshaped, asillustrated, to provide a more decorative appearance, however, they canbe other than arcuate, for example, straight out lines. Also, these outlines extend into the rings 14 and 16 approximately one-half thedistance across the widths thereof, however, it will be appreciated thatthe length thereof may vary depending upon the width of the rings.

The apertures 20 and 22 also are formed in the ring 16 and the disc 12,respectively, before the blank 11 is folded to form the article 10.

The blank 11 can be appropriately colored and advertising matterprovided on it, prior to cutting and scoring it. Alternatively, this canbe done after it is cut and scored.

The article 10 can be shipped and/ or stored in the form of the blank11, and thereafter fully erected by the purchaser. Preferably, however,the blank 11 is pre-folded, as described below, and has the string 18affixed to it so that it can be simply removved from its mailingenvelope and quickly and automatically erected by holding the string 18and letting the pre-folded blank 11 free-fall. The blank 11 ispre-folded, by reversely folding the disc 12 within the ring 14, alongthe score lines 34 and 36, and by thereafter reversely folding the ring14, and the disc 12 which is aflixed to it, within the ring 16, alongthe score lines 50 and 52. The string 18 now is threaded through theaperture 20 in the ring 16, from the back to the front, and then throughthe aperture 22 in the disc 12, from the front to the back. The string18 advantageously can have a pin 19 affixed to its one end, whichfunctions both to assist in threading it and to secure it to th6e blank11, or article 10, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and When folded in thisfashion and the string 18 afiixed to it, the blank 11 appears asillustrated in FIG. 3. It may be noted that the sides of the disc 12 andthe ring 14 opposite those shown in FIG. 1 are now visible. Moreimportantly, it may be noted that a portion of the ring 14 slightlyoverlaps the ring 16, and a portion of the disc 12 slightly overlaps thering 14. This is due to the fact that, as indicated above, the hinges3G, 32, 42 and 44 are formed slightly off-center. The importantadvantage provided by this construction is that there is no binding ofmaterial, and the blank 11 will easily and automatically unfold so as toform the three-dimensional article 10, as illustrated in FIG. 6, whenthe sting 18 is held and the pre-fold blank is permitted to free-fall.For simplicity, the hinges 38, 40, 42 and 44 integrally afiixing thedisc 12 and the rings 14 and 16 together are not shown, however, inFIGS. 4 and 5, the hinge 42 wichh integrally afiixes the rings 14 and 16together is illustrated. It can be seen that the hinges 42 (also thehinge 44) folds along the score line 50 and supports the ring 14 withinthe ring 16, in a plane which is perpendicularly disposed with respectto the ring 16. The disc 12 is supported within the ring 14 in a similarfashion, by the hinges 38 and 40.

When the article 10 is erected, it may be noted that its weight issupported by the hinges 42 and 44. In some cases, Where the paperboardfrom which the article 10 is fabricated is relatively lightweight, thehinges 42 and 44 may not be sufficiently strong to support it so thatboth the disc 12 and the ring 14 tend to sag. That is, the disc 12 ispulled upwardly, closer to the ring 16, by the weight of the article 10.This problem can be eliminated, by threading a length of plastic tubing78 on the string 18, in a fashion such that it is lwedged between theedges of the ring 16 and the disc 12, as illustrated in FIG. 7,

so as to maintain the disc 12 and ring 16 in spaced relation.

In the illustrated embodiment, only two annular rings 14 and 16 areshown formed concentrically about the disc 12,-so that a threedimensional article is formed, when erected. However, it is apparentthat the article need not be limited to three dimensions, but can havemore, for example, 4, 5, 6 or more, planes, with each plane being hingedto the adjacent one, with hinges which are slightly off-center anddisplaced 90, with respect to the hinges on an adjacent plane. Forexample, in the case of the article illustrated in FIGS. l-6- [anotherring can be provided, by forming another cut line similar to the cutlines 26 and 28 in the blank 11. The hinges integrally aflixing theadditional ring to the ring 16 are displaced 90 with respect to thehinges integrally aflixing the ring 14 to the ring 16.

Also, as indicated above, the article 10, while illustrated in FIGS. 1-6as being formed of a disc and rings, can be formed having ellipses,ovals, squares, rectangles, rhomboids, as well as other regular orirregular shapes which allow for hinge pivot points at right angles. Forexample, in FIG. 8 there is illustrated a blank 80 having a generallyirregular shaped outline, and cut lines 81 and 82 therein whichgenerally correspond to the outline of the blank, and which form anirregular shaped center section 83 having similar irregular shaped rings84 and 85 concentrically about it and one another. The center section 83is integrally afiixed to the ring 84, and the latter is integrallyaffixed to the ring 85, with hinges 86 and 87, respectively, formed inthe above-described manner.

Furthermore, the center portion of the article need not correspond tothe shape of the portions which are disposed about it. For example, thecenter portion, rather than being in the form of a disc, as in the caseof the article 10 illustrated in FIGS. l-6, can be die-cut to the shapeof a product, such as the bottle 90 illustrated in FIG. 9, a package, orother desired configuration.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the article 10 illustrated in FIGS. l-6, asWell as other articles formed in accordance with the invention, can beformed so that the ring 14 will tilt, at any desired angle, above orbelow horizontal. This is accomplished simply by relocating the positionof the aperture through which the string 18 extends, from its positionon the line labelled vertical to another position, as illustrated.

It is apparent from the above description of the article 10 that it canbe fabricated in numerous sizes. For example, when used as anadvertising display which is to be suspended by a string, like a mobile,the article preferably is of a substantial size so that it stands outand is readily apparent. When used as a decorative ornament, it maypreferably be slightly smaller. By making the article of a size suchthat it will easily fit into a standard letter or card-size mailingenvelope 102, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the article easily serves as aunique advertising mailing piece or as a novelty greeting card 100. Whenpre-folded and with a string aflixed to it in the above-describedfashion, the greeting card will be automatically erected when pulled outof the envelope. The center section advantageously can be formed toprovide an object which is representative of the occasion. For example,in the case of a birthday greeting card, the center section can beprovided in the form of a birthday cake. The article also can provide anovel Christmas greeting card which, after viewing it, can be hung on aChristmas tree as a decorative ornament.

The article 10 also be fabricated or formed so that it can be supportedon a wire or the like which wire, in turn, is aflixed to a stand ortripod. The wire, also, can be aflixed to and driven by motor means, toprovide a positive motion display. In such case, the article 18 isadvantageously formed of a corrugated board which is cut, scored andfolded generally in the manner described above, for easy opening. Theoff-center hinges thereof preferably are spaced 45 apart, on theopposite sides of a line drawn perpendicular to the direction of theflutes in the corrugated board. With this arrangement, the flutes of theouter ring run vertically, the same as the flutes in the center portionthereof, so that a straight wire of a gauge to fit into the flutes canbe extended through the flutes in the outer ring and into the flutes ofthe center portion.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efliciently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above article without departingfrom the scope of the invention, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed as new anddesired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

'1. An article which is adaptable for use as a decorative ornament, anadvertising display, an advertising mailing piece, a greeting card andthe like, said article being formed from a single blank of sheetmaterial which is cut an scored so as to provide a central body portionhaving at least one ring-shaped member concentrically formed about itsperiphery which is integrally aflixed to said central body portion by apair of hinges, said hinges being disposed opposite one another andbeing foldable with said central body portion to positionally supportsaid central body portion in a position perpendicularly disposed withrespect to said ring-shaped member.

2. An article, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ringshaped member hasanother ring-shaped member concentrically formed about its periphery andintegrally affixed to it by a second pair of hinges which are disposedopposite another and angularly displaced from said firstmentioned pairof hinges, said second pair of hinges being foldable with said first oneof said ring-shaped members to positionally support it within said otherringshaped member in a position perpendicularly disposed with respect tosaid ring-shaped member, to form a three dimensional object.

3. An article, as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said hinges in apair of hinges is disposed opposite one another on a line which isoffset and is parallel to a line drawn through the center axis of saidcentral body portion.

4. An article, as claimed in claim 3, wherein said single blank of sheetmaterial is cut and scored to provide said central body portion and saidring-shaped members and is thereafter pre-folded by reversely foldingsaid central body portion with respect to the ring-shaped members withrespect to the one ring-shaped member to which it is aflixed, andwherein the outermost one of said ringshaped members and said centralbody portion each has an aperture formed in it, said apertures beingdisposed with respect to one another, a string threaded through saidaperture in said outermost one of said ring-shaped members from the backto the front of said pre-fold blank and through said aperture in saidcentral body portion from the front to the back of said pre-fold blankand affixed to said central body portion, said article beingautomatically erected when the free end of said string is held and saidpre-fold blank is permitted to free-fall.

5. A article, as claimed in claim 1 wherein said central body portion iscircular-shaped and said ring-shaped members are annular rings.

6. An article, as claimed in claim 1 wherein said central body portionis formed in the shape of a product and said ring-shaped members aredisposed about it.

7. An article, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said single blank of sheetmaterial is heavy paperboard.

8. An article, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said central body portionand the outermost ones of said ringshaped members each have an apertureformed in it, a string for hangingly suspending said article threadedthrough said apertures and affixed to said central body portion, aspacer supported by said threaded string disposed between the peripheraledge of said central body portion and said outermost ring-shaped memberfor maintaining them in spaced relation so as to prevent said articlefrom sagging.

9. An article, as claimed in claim 8, wherein said spacer comprises aplastic tubular member threaded on said string.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,472,520 10/1923 Grimm 40-l38 X2,616,199 11/1952 Robins.

2,735,203 2/1956 Berger 40-138 X 2,780,017 2/1957 Paige 40-lZ4.1

a EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

W. I. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner.

